


Bedtime Stories

by Humansunshine



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Bedtime Stories, Fluff, M/M, Madzie is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14314464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humansunshine/pseuds/Humansunshine
Summary: Magnus needs Cat's help with a potion, so Alec volunteers to watch Madzie while they work.





	Bedtime Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Ellie requested this on curiouscat: you didn’t hear this from me but you should definitely write some malec babysitting madzie fluff so that catarina can finally have some rest from a rambunctious 5yo

“You busy?” Magnus asked, coming up behind Alec’s chair to scritch at his scalp. Alec closed the tome he’d been reading and let his eyes flutter shut.

Alec sighed, and rolled his head forward so Magnus could rub at the back of his neck. “Sort of. I don’t have to do this but it’ll give me a jump on tomorrow’s workload.” 

Magnus smiled, having guessed as much, and went back to running his fingers through the hair on the top of his boyfriend’s head. “Well, I have some news that will make your day.” 

“Did you DVR The Good Wife?” Alec asked, tilting his head back to Magnus’ face.

“Actually, yes, but that’s not the good news.” Magnus laughed. “Cat’s coming over to help me with a medical potion, and she’s bringing Madzie with her.” 

Alec’s eyes lit up, and he sat up to swivel around in his armchair. “How long are they going to be staying?” 

“Well, that’s the other thing. Cat was thinking about going on a date tonight, so if we’re okay with it, she’d like for Madzie to stay over for the night. So…?”

“We’re okay with it. Hey, do you think maybe you could portal me back to the institute real quick to get some books from my room? My Mom used to be great at bedtime stories.” Alec remembered. 

Magnus walked around the chair to sit himself in Alec’s lap. “I can just conjure them. Which shelf are the books you want on?” 

Squinting his eyes for a moment to think, Alec rubbed Magnus’ back. “Uhh… I think the third shelf down.” 

A pile of books appeared on the coffee table in front of them, and Alec grimaced. He’d accidentally picked the shelf with his old textbooks. Magnus quirked an eyebrow, picking one of them up and flipping it open.

“God, I remember Ragnor complaining about how outdated these were thirty years ago. They’re still using them?” 

Alec shrugged, kissing Magnus’ shoulder. “I’m not sure. It’s been almost ten years since I graduated.” 

Magnus hummed. “So which shelf do you actually need? I’m not going to let you read my favourite niece the history of the Clave.” 

“The next shelf down. Sorry, hot stuff.” Alec replied wryly, watching as Magnus banished the textbooks back to his bedroom in the institute, only to replace them with the colourful storybooks from Alec’s childhood. “I loved this one. It’s about a baby angel that gets kidnapped by a werewolf, and its cries are heard by a shadowhunter who cuts the wolf in ha-”

Alec cut himself off suddenly, his eyes going wide. “Oh God!”

“And there it is…” Magnus chuckled, ruffling Alec’s hair.

“They really indoctrinate us from birth!” 

“Yep,” Magnus sighed. “Maybe don’t read that one to Madzie.” 

Alec swallowed hard, throwing the book back onto the coffee table. “I don’t think I can read her any of these.” 

A knock at the door made the both of them look up, and Magnus climbed out of Alec’s lap to go to answer it. Alec followed closely, excited to spend time with Madzie and let the stress of the last few weeks melt away. He loved spending time with the little girl, trying to tempt her to speak to him. She was getting better; last time they hung out Madzie had shyly told him about her best friend in school. Alec could forget everything else when he was playing with Madzie. She treated him like an overgrown toddler, like he was stupid and had no idea how anything worked, and honestly… She was about ten times more powerful than he would ever be, and she hadn’t broken 5 foot yet. Alec didn’t blame her for assuming he was an idiot. 

Catarina looked tired but happy, and Madzie was clinging to her back like a koala, though at the sight of Magnus and Alec she leapt down and ran to hug Magnus’ legs. Magnus chuckled, and lifted her up, leading everyone inside.

“How’s the Princess of New York doing, hmm?” Magnus asked, smiling as she hugged him tightly. 

She didn’t respond verbally to his question, but she did give him a big kiss on the cheek, and Alec cooed. 

“She’s been doing very well in school. Math is her favourite.” Catarina told them, giving Alec a light hug. “How are things with you?”

“Stressful, exhausting, you know the drill,” Alec admitted. 

Catarina laughed. “Oh, I know all too well.”

Madzie pointed at Alec from Magnus’ arms, and Magnus obediently handed her over to Alec, who lifted her above his head and spun her around. “Stop it!” She giggled, batting at his head, and Alec grinned, putting her back down on the ground. 

“So you’re good at math, huh? You’re a genius as well as a super powerful warlock. Darn it, Madz, you gotta give the rest of us a chance, kid.” Alec teased, but Madzie only shrugged, a pleased smile playing around her lips. She reached for one of the books on the coffee table and Magnus and Alec made matching panicked noises, the Clave-approved storybooks disappearing back to Alec’s institute bedroom in a crackle of Magnus’ magic. 

Madzie turned to give the two of them reproachful looks.

“Alexander’s going to tell you a brand new bedtime story. Those books were boring and babyish, you’re too grown up for them.” Magnus explained. 

Catarina looked between the two of them with a quirked eyebrow.

“Don’t ask,” Alec whispered to her out of the corner of his mouth as Madzie conjured her doll from her backpack. 

Magnus chuckled, enchanted, and bent down to Madzie’s level. “Really getting to grips with making things appear, aren’t you? You’re a fast learner.”

“Too fast,” Cat laughed, “she’s figured out how to get cookies from the cookie jaw without me noticing.” 

Madzie grinned at Magnus, who smiled mischievously back at her. 

“No-one’s gonna tell you what to do, are they?” 

“Nope!” Madzie announced, burying her face in her doll’s hair. “I’m hungry.” 

“You want me to make you a snack while Magnus and your Mom get to work?” Alec offered, and Madzie nodded, running over to him and taking his hand. “What do you fancy, kid?” 

Madzie thought about it for a moment as she pulled him towards the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed. “Pastry.” 

Alec chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “Madz, remember, Uncle Alec can’t make things appear like you can. So… How about a grilled cheese? Or a PB and J?” 

“Hmmm…” Madzie looked at him with disapproval. “I can teach you.” 

“I wish you could, Madz, but Uncle Alec is a boring old shadowhunter, remember? No magic powers.” 

Madzie huffed, lifting her arms so Alec could sit her on the countertop. “Rubbish.” 

Alec laughed, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess it is. So…?” 

“PB and J.”

“You got it, kid.” Alec nodded, booping her on the nose before turning to grab the bread from the cupboard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Really?” Magnus put his hand over his mouth. He shouldn’t laugh, but-

“I’m telling you! All her clothes, gone! She must have sent them miles away, because I couldn’t sense them anywhere.” 

Magnus shook his head, trying not to smile. “She’s too smart for her own good. Five years old and she already figured out how to play her Mom for filth.” 

“Listen, you can laugh now, but when it’s your kid making stuff disappear, I guarantee it won’t be as endearing.” Cat warned him, though a fond sparkle in her eyes made it clear that all the chaos Madzie had caused at home was worth every moment they got to spend together.

“Oh, I don’t know that that’s on the cards for Alexander and I,” Magnus admitted, dropping his eyes to the potion he was stirring, “he’s a career man.” 

Cat snorted. “Have you seen him with Madzie? He adores kids. He’s good with them, too.”

“He is,” Magnus agreed, listening for the sound of Madzie’s giggles in the kitchen. “I don’t know, we’ve only been together a year. It hasn’t really come up, what with saving the world twice, and all.” 

“I feel like the two of you earned a little domestic bliss. When are you gonna ask him to marry you, anyway? Don’t you want to, you know, nail that one down?” She asked, leaning over him to sprinkle in some ground werewolf claw. 

Magnus sighed melodramatically, and shot Cat a dirty look. “If you must know, I’m leaving the ball in his court. He’s the one who’s going to have to deal with the Clave and all that nonsense. But enough about Alec and I… Who’s this person you’re going on a date with? It’s been years! Is they dry spell finally over?” 

“Oh, yeah…” Catarina chewed her lip, her eyebrows furrowing a little. “About that… I know that in the past we’ve avoided pursuing each others’ exes…”

Magnus raised his eyebrow at her. “Darling Catarina, you know that wasn’t a hard or fast rule. If you’ve clicked with someone that I’ve been romantically involved with, I wouldn’t dream of standing in the way of it, especially since I’ve got Alexander now.” 

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Catarina sighed in relief, pressing her lips together. “It’s Dot, though. I know it’s recent, but…”

“80 years is not recent,” Magnus pointed out, rolling his eyes. He set the spoon to stir itself in the cauldron, and reached over to squeeze Catarina’s hand. “I think the two of you would be adorable together. How did it happen?” 

Catarina smiled, squeezing Magnus’ hand in return. “Well, she’s been babysitting Madzie occasionally, so we’ve been talking a lot. And, I don’t know, something… Developed. Madzie actually tried locking us in the bedroom together.”

“Of course she did,” Magnus laughed.

“I have a good feeling about it, Mag.” 

Magnus felt a warmth swell up in his heart. Catarina had been alone even longer than he had been before Alec came along, and if anyone deserved happiness, it was her. “I’m so glad. I really hope it works out. Really.” 

Catarina shrugged, reaching for the next ingredient. “Me too.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you think? Does this look like a cow?” Alec asked, shifting his paper across the table so Madzie could look at it. She frowned down at his crayon drawing and back at him, and Alec winced with exaggeration. “That bad, huh?” 

“You need a refence.” 

Alec tilted his head to the side. “A what?”

“Refence.” Madzie said more firmly, jumping down from the chair she’d been sat on and pursed her lips, waving her hands around in slashes in front of her and pushing it out. 

A cow appeared in the living room. Alec yelped, running around the table as the cow started to look around, lumbering over to the couch to sniff it. 

“Magnus!” Alec called, picking up Madzie as the cow turned towards them. “MAGNUS!” 

Magnus and Catarina came running out to the living room, both stopping in their tracks as they took in the tableau in front of them. Alec was holding Madzie above his head as a brown fluffy cow chewed on the hem of his shirt. Madzie was giggling like it was the proudest moment of her life, clapping her hands together. 

“Refence!”

“There’s a cow in my living room,” Magnus supplied, and Catarina put her hands on her hips. 

“Madzie Loss! You took this cow away from its family!” She scolded. “Don’t you think they’re going to miss him?” 

Madzie hadn’t seemed to have thought of that, and with a sigh waved her arms again, banishing the cow back to whichever farm she’d taken it from. “Sorry, Mama.” 

“You know we talked about this, sweetie. It’s not polite to take living things without them saying it’s okay.” Catarina explained patiently, taking Madzie from Alec and setting her down on the floor. 

Magnus went over to Alec, an amused smile playing around his mouth. “It’s adorable that my big bad shadowhunter is scared of barnyard animal.” 

“I wasn’t scared, it just caught me off guard,” Alec insisted, cheeks a little pink. “I thought it was going to nibble Madzie’s little face off.” 

“You saved our little girl from the big bad cow,” Magnus cooed, booping Alec on the nose. “My hero.” 

Alec grumbled a little, but accepted the little squeeze Magnus gave him.

“Maybe it’s not a good idea for me to go out tonight, maybe I should just take Madzie home…” Catarina sighed.

“No!” Madzie insisted, tugging on Cat’s sleeve. “Dot will be sad.” 

“It’s fine, Cat. Alec and I got this. You go have fun.” Magnus shrugged.

Alec nodded, straightening his shirt. “Yeah, Cat, it’s fine. It just caught me off guard, is all.” 

“You’re sure?” 

“Yes!” Everyone exclaimed at once, and Cat sighed, smiling fondly at the three of them. 

“Alright. Mags, you gonna be good with the rest of the potion?” She checked, summoning her handbag from the other room.

Magnus sighed, and walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve got this. You go, and woo sweet Dorothea, and fall in love and get married and adopt some siblings for Madzie. You don’t have to worry about a thing this end.” 

Cat smiled at him, patting his chest. “Thanks, Mag.” 

“Anytime.” 

“Alright! I’m going! Night, Madz. Now you listen to Uncle Magnus and Uncle Alec. Don’t glamour your teeth clean, make sure you brush them, and call me if you wanna come home, alright?” Cat bent down to Madzie’s level, embracing her for a moment before kissing her forehead. “Alright, alright, time to go!” She conjured a portal, and gave them all one last wave, Madzie a flying kiss, and then stepped through. 

As the portal closed, Madzie leapt into Magnus’ arms, patting him on the chin. “Bedtime story?” 

“Sure, sweet pea. You go and get your pyjamas on and Uncle Alec and me will be there in just a second.” He carried her through to the spare bedroom that Magnus had turned into a kid’s bedroom just for her, placing her down on the bed. “We’ll be right out here.” 

Madzie nodded in recognition, and started digging manually in her backpack. Alec closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a moment, giving Magnus a big goofy grin. 

“She must have used most of her magic sending that cow back.” Alec shook his head, walking up to Magnus and putting his arms around the older man’s shoulders. “She’s gonna be a real ball-buster, isn’t she?”

“I do not envy the person who messes with her,” Magnus admitted, a little taken aback at the weight of Alec’s eyes. 

Alec’s gaze was soft, and he tilted his head to the side. “This is what it’s gonna be like, right?”

“What… What is gonna be like?” 

Alec shrugged coyly. “When we have kids of our own.” 

“Alexander…” Magnus felt the word stick in his throat, overwhelmed.

“Too soon?” He asked, his shoulders rising up to his jaw.

Magnus smiled, pressing their foreheads together.

“Uncle Alec?” Madzie asked from behind them, and they jumped apart, both clearing their throats. As Magnus turned and caught sight of Madzie, it took everything in him not to coo at her. She had the cutest little onesie he’d ever seen, blue with yellow ducks on. Call him broody, but he couldn’t wait to dress his and Alec’s kids.

“Time for bed?” Alec asked, and Madzie nodded, holding out her toothbrush. 

“Toothpaste, please.” 

Magnus walked past the two of them to conjure a little stool in the bathroom for Madzie to stand on so she could reach the sink and see herself in the mirror as she squeezed some toothpaste onto her brush and stuck it in her mouth. Magnus supervised, brushing his own teeth while he was at it, as Alec changed out of his work clothes into sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

“Is it weird that Uncle Alec can’t do magic?” Madzie asked, looking at Magnus in the mirror.

“Sweet pea, as you grow up you’ll see that most people in this world can’t do magic. Those people are ordinary. Me and you and your Mama, we’re what we call extraordinary. We’re special.” Magnus explained once he’d spat his toothpaste into the sink. 

Madzie frowned thoughtfully. “But Uncle Alec is special.” 

“Well, yes, he is,” Magnus chuckled, popping his toothbrush back in its holder. “But he’s not special because of his abilities, but because of his heart. Now you, little one,” he groaned as he lifted her off the stool to put her back on the floor, “you’re even more special than all of us. You have magic and a good heart. And that means you’re the most special person in the whole world.” 

With a shrug, Madzie seemed to accept that, padding back out to the bedroom, where Alec was waiting for them. He was fiddling with the strings of his sweatpants, his eyes glazed over in thought. Madzie climbed onto the bed and got under the covers, glancing over him to look for the storybook.

“I was gonna tell you a story from my head rather than from a book. That okay?” Alec asked, and Madzie shrugged, clutching her doll to her chest. 

“I for one am looking forward to Uncle Alec’s story.” Magnus smiled, conjuring his armchair into the room to sit at the foot of the bed. 

Alec chewed his lip a little, his gaze lingering on Magnus, before looking back down at Madzie. “Do you like fairytales? Princes and Princesses?” Madzie nodded, and Alec sighed in relief. “Okay, well, once upon a time, there was a sad knight. He was very hardworking and tried his best whenever he was on the battlefield, but he came home to an empty house and an empty heart. He was very lonely, and dreamed of the day when a handsome prince would come to save him.” 

Magnus got comfortable in the armchair, resting his elbow against the armrest and his chin on his hand. He had a feeling he knew where this story was going, and his stomach was already doing somersaults.

“The knight’s parents wanted the knight to be powerful and known through all the kingdom, so they found a princess from another land. Now, the knight respected the princess, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force himself to fall in love with her. One day, the knight was walking in the forest, and he heard the sounds of fighting. Now, the knight was very eager to help people in need, so he ran through the forest following the sounds until he came across swirling blue and red light surrounding the most beautiful man that the knight had ever seen. He was tall and broad, and the way he moved his hands was full of energy and passion. The knight could barely believe his eyes.”

Unable to hide his enamoured smile, Magnus looked at Madzie, who looked like she was starting to drift off, her blinks getting longer with less time between them. 

“When the stranger turned around, the knight gasped. The stranger was no ordinary sorcerer, no, he was the prince of magic himself! The knight bowed immediately, but the prince of magic insisted that he should stand. That evening, as a thank you for rushing so boldly to his aid, even though he didn’t really need it, the prince of magic brought the knight on a tour of the kingdom, transporting him to wild and wonderful places, opening his eyes to the beauty and vibrance of the world.” Alec’s eyes had glazed over, lost in memory, and Magnus’ heart squeezed. “The knight couldn’t help but fall head over heels in love.” 

Madzie let out a little snore, and Alec jolted out of his reveries to look down at the little girl. She was fast asleep, and Alec smiled, carefully rising from the bed to cross over to the armchair where Magnus was still sitting. Magnus rearranged his legs so Alec could sit on his lap, snuggling into Magnus’ neck as they watched Madzie sleep for a few moments. 

“How does that story end?” Magnus whispered, the backs of his fingers caressing Alec’s flushed cheek. 

Alec smiled. “With happily ever after.”

**Author's Note:**

> What was your favourite part?


End file.
